Skopje, 9 November 2022 (MIA) – Amendments to the Law on Associations and Foundations were adopted in Parliament by consensus but regardless of whether they are submitted to the Venice Commission or not, all of our laws will be assessed during the bilateral screening with the EU and then undergo changes, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski on Wednesday. PM Kovachevski told reporters that he does not expect the law to undergo changes because it only points that the feelings of the citizens should be taken into account when using names from World War II for clubs or companies. “My opinion is that we need a new Law on Associations and the Ministry of Justice is working on drafting a complete law that will include all political parties and experts. I still believe that the German legislation should be taken as a basis, because it has managed to resolve the issues with citizens’ associations to a very high degree,” said Kovachevski. Regarding the Culture Center in Blagoevgrad, the PM said he talked to Bulgarian PM Galab Donev and once the documents are sent and then reviewed by the Bulgarian authorities, it will be possible to establish the Center and open it in an appropriate manner. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani told a press conference with his Bulgarian colleague Nikolaj Milkov on Tuesday he would recommend that the Government submits the recently adopted Law on Associations and Foundations to the Venice Commission, in order to determine if it contains anything contentious as per Bulgaria’s claims. ad/ik/